Perceptions and Experiences of Prenatal Care Providers in Communicating about the HIV Test with Pregnant Latinas in South Carolina

<p>Introduction: South Carolina is experiencing rapid growth in the Latino population. As a result, the number of Latino births in the state has increased dramatically within the past 15 years. Limited South Carolina Latino health data and communication/language barriers between providers and their Latina patients have made it difficult to assess whether pregnant Latinas are being routinely offered HIV testing and whether they may decline to be tested, if offered. Methods: Mixed qualitative method approach (i.e., observations, interviews, and document reviews) with prenatal care givers from seven sites that serve pregnant Latinas in five predominately rural counties in South Carolina.</p> <p>Results: Although significant progress has been made in providing cultural and language appropriate services to the Latino population in South Carolina, prenatal care providers in participating sites are still experiencing barriers in providing equitable care to the Latino population. Observations, interviews, and document reviews indicated that cultural and communication gaps are highly prevalent among prenatal care clinics in the state. Findings also revealed that providers are not certain whether pregnant Latinas are fully aware that the HIV test is included in the standard prenatal panel and if the Latinas are aware that they can decline to be test for HIV. The qualitative data also demonstrated that providers are not properly trained on the prenatal HIV opt-out screening approach.</p> <p>Conclusions: The results of this study indicated a need for health care settings to implement the Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) standards. Health care administrators should support these standards and ensure their organizations offer culturally and linguistically appropriate services to their limited English proficient (LEP) patients. Equally important is the need for these organizations to be familiar with and properly trained on the opt-out HIV screening method.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Dr.P.H.

Level thesis:degree_level

Campus Access Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Health Promotion, Education and Behavior

Year

2011

Author dc:creator

• Meetze, Edena Guimaraes

Contributors dc:contributor

• Donna Richter

• Medicine and Health Sciences
• Public Health
• Public Health Education and Promotion
• Cultural Competency
• Multi-method Approach
• Pregnant Latinas
• Prenatal Care Providers
• Prenatal HIV Testing

Statement dc:rights

• © 2011, Edena Guimaraes Meetze

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/1373

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarcommons.sc.edu:etd-2374